10 replies to this topic

[Tmhernandez77]

Hello, I have found a couple crematogaster sp queens that I don't know the specific species, and I have a few questions on care.

Currently, my thought is to keep them in a standard acrylic formicarium with a dry out world where I will put some rotting wood (after I boil it) to see where they choose to nest. I'm gonna keep them around 80° F and feed a varied diet if honey, nuts, insects, and seeds to see what they like. Basically I have no clue on care so I'm going to experiment, but if anyone could give done basic guidelines that would help a ton.

For a bit more info, here is a gallery of the queens:
http://www.formicult...nknown-species/
They are about 8 mm long, shiny black and I caught them late July in southern California in a parking lot. They seem to love honey already, but I haven't offered any other foods yet.

[Kaelwizard]

The bottom queen doesn’t look like Crematogaster.

[AntsDakota]

Currently, my thought is to keep them in a standard acrylic formicarium with a dry out world where I will put some rotting wood (after I boil it) to see where they choose to nest. I'm gonna keep them around 80° F and feed a varied diet if honey, nuts, insects, and seeds to see what they like. Basically I have no clue on care so I'm going to experiment, but if anyone could give done basic guidelines that would help a ton.

 

I've heard Crematogaster take a while to develop, around three months. I've also heard they get stressed easily. Yet otherwise, their care is pretty much the same as any other ant.

[Kaelwizard]

There colonies actually grow possibly faster than tetras.

Currently, my thought is to keep them in a standard acrylic formicarium with a dry out world where I will put some rotting wood (after I boil it) to see where they choose to nest. I'm gonna keep them around 80° F and feed a varied diet if honey, nuts, insects, and seeds to see what they like. Basically I have no clue on care so I'm going to experiment, but if anyone could give done basic guidelines that would help a ton.

I've heard Crematogaster take a while to develop, around three months. I've also heard they get stressed easily. Yet otherwise, their care is pretty much the same as any other ant.

They grow extremely fast actually.

Edited by Kaelwizard, August 31 2019 - 3:26 PM.

[ANTdrew]

Excellent! Welcome to Team CrematoMaster. These are hands down my favorite ants to keep. Just keep them really warm and feed them lots of insects. I have an arboreal species that basically doesn’t care about humidity at all; I just have water in a liquid feeder available at all times.
Don’t check the queens because they do eat their eggs when stressed. The hardest part is keeping these ants from escaping, so definitely get some good fluon.

[TennesseeAnts]

Excellent! Welcome to Team CrematoMaster. These are hands down my favorite ants to keep. Just keep them really warm and feed them lots of insects. I have an arboreal species that basically doesn’t care about humidity at all; I just have water in a liquid feeder available at all times.
Don’t check the queens because they do eat their eggs when stressed. The hardest part is keeping these ants from escaping, so definitely get some good fluon.

I too have Crematogaster cerasi. If you have these, (it is almost impossible to tell) then you don't need much humidity at all. They are arboreal, and will thrive in even the driest of environments, as long as they always have added to drinking water. My colony loves crickets and sugar water, with the occasional drop of honey. My colony has been living off this diet since their huge die off in May. I put them back into a test tube and they have already broke 100 again and the queen is constantly laying eggs! Their brood pile covers 2/3 of the tube!

[Canadant]

I just brood boosted a new queen with several hundred pupae. She took them all and now I have a colony. I just put them in a new outworld. I just lay the test tube in there. Not sure if she's laying eggs yet but time will tell. These guys are cool. Need info on foods for them. Mine took honey but after they refused sugar water.

[ANTdrew]

They like Sunburst nectar a lot, too.

[Canadant]

They like Sunburst nectar a lot, too.

What is sunburst nectar, if you don't mind me asking?

[Kaelwizard]

They like Sunburst nectar a lot, too.

What is sunburst nectar, if you don't mind me asking?

Ask drtmiller if you want to know exactly what’s in it. (He makes it and sells it)

[Canadant]

I'm in the process of painting my old hybrid 1.0 camponotus formicarium. I'm hoping to move my boosted colony this weekend.

I'm thinking of putting some medium in the formicarium like wood chips or something. Any ideas for comfort?

My colony got passed my ptfe (a small missed spot) barrier last night and in no time had started to move into my desk! Its and antique made of old doors. They found a small hole and really jammed in there. Wow keeping smaller ants definitely has a new set of challenges for me. Loving it